Why the Knicks could be the Celtics’ biggest threat in the playoffs

The Knicks are many things right now. As I write this, they are currently depleted, bad on defense, one-dimensional on offense, and the perfect embodiment of mediocrity over the last couple of weeks. And despite all of those things being true, it’s not a stretch to say that the Knicks could still evolve into the biggest threat to derail the Boston Celtics’ run to the Finals.

This isn’t to say that the Knicks are going to beat them. For one, it’d be idiotic to pick anyone in the East over Boston right now. They are the best team on paper; the numbers prove that, and the eye test only further solidifies that feeling. And two, the Knicks still need a lot of dominoes to fall their way if they are to even meet with and (hope to) beat the Celtics.

But if given the chance, the Knicks—not the Bucks, Sixers, Cavaliers, Pacers, or Heat—have the best shot at upsetting the Celtics.

Sure, Milwaukee has an offense led by the two-headed monster of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, but they’ve failed to become a consistent team defensively and are led by a coach who is notorious for blowing series leads.

Philadelphia, when healthy, looks as good as anyone in the league during the regular season but Joel Embiid has struggled at times in the playoffs, and they don’t necessarily match up well with Boston.

Cleveland has the defensive potential to make things difficult for Boston but still seems like they could lack the offensive firepower to keep up with them.

Indiana is still young and their defense still leaves a lot to be desired. And then there’s Miami, who we can never be counted out, but who will be huge underdogs if they were to face Boston given their mediocre regular season.

New York, like the aforementioned teams, has clear weaknesses. Julius Randle has yet to put together a good playoff series and his health and rhythm will be a question mark until we know more about his shoulder. Josh Hart remains an offensive liability at times. There are also still concerns surrounding the bench’s defense and if Tom Thibodeau can make the necessary adjustments in a close playoff series.

But the Knicks have potential on both sides of the ball to give the Celtics a run for their money.

Defensively, they have the tools to make things interesting. OG Anunoby matches up with Jayson Tatum as well as anyone else in the league. Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart may not be able to stop Jaylen Brown but they will do their best to make him work hard. Isaiah Hartenstein and a healthy Mitchell Robinson could give the Knicks 48 minutes of good-to-elite rim protection. Precious Achiuwa could end up being used as a very important player off the bench as a switchable defensive Swiss Army knife. And while Deuce McBride will likely be too small to bother the Celtics’ star players, he could still be useful in certain matchups when coming off the bench as a defensive replacement.

Now, Jrue Holiday—who is a bigger and stronger guard than both Jalen Brunson and McBride—could be annoying for the Knicks to deal with, and Kristaps Porzingis—whose shooting will easily exploit Thibodeau’s drop coverage scheme—should have a big series.

But in all honesty, no team has the talent or ability to consistently stop the Celtics, outside of (maybe) the Minnesota Timberwolves. And that’s one of the reasons why they’ve been as good as they’ve been. They have five dudes who can stretch the floor with multiple guys who can handle the ball and get their shots and in Tatum and Brown, they have two elite wing scorers who can drop it from all three levels.

But the Knicks don’t need to stop them. They just need to slow the game down and make it as difficult as possible to give themselves a chance. A healthy version of this team has the potential to score a lot of points, even against a Celtics team that has great defenders all around. Holiday is one of the best perimeter stoppers of this generation, Tatum has shown he can be a great defender when locked in, and Porzingis and Al Horford are both great rim protectors.

But Brunson showed just last playoffs that he can score even when opposing defenses are keyed in on stopping him. And this year he has exponentially more support offensively. Randle, if he can play the way he has in the regular season, will be a big weapon. DiVincenzo offers way more spacing and shooting than anyone on the team last year did. And the duo of Anunoby and Bogdanovic should provide much more offense than the Knicks’ third and fourth options from last season.

Again, it needs to be reiterated that the Knicks will still be major underdogs if these two teams face off. Boston, given its elite wing play, amazing individual and team defense, and balanced and spaced-out offense, will be the favorite against pretty much every other team in the League. Beating them four times in the span of seven games will be an incredibly difficult task for anyone facing Beantown.

But, if a few calls and shots go the Knicks’ way, the right guys get hot and hit their stride, and Boston goes cold in a game or two, New York has the makeup, toughness, and depth to make it a series and that may be more than any other team in the East can say.